中唐文人鬼神观念的分歧:兼论韩愈《原鬼》的思想史意义

Divergence of the Concept of Supernatural Beings of Literati in the Middle Period of Tang Dynasty:On the Significance of Intellectual History of Ghost Research by Han Yu

鬼神观念在中国影响深远,但早期的文献讨论鬼神都不够系统,中唐韩愈作《原鬼》,从本体论上明确区分了“鬼”和“物怪”,并在鬼神观念上表现出了和同时代其他文人的分歧,他更喜欢描述抽象的“鬼”,而同时代的其他文人则更热衷于描绘具体而形象的“物怪”。后来的宋代理学家在鬼神观念上与韩愈存在着一致性,这种一致性体现了唐宋变革中的唐宋之同,从中可以看出韩愈在唐宋变革中的重要位置。但另一方面,宋儒在鬼神观念上走向了更加抽象与纯粹的方向,与之相比,韩愈的鬼神观念则显得不那么深刻了。因此理学兴起后宋人对韩愈这一观念存在集体忽视,从这种忽视中,又可以体现出唐宋变革中的唐宋之别。

The concept of supernatural beings has some profound influences on China,however,the description of supernatural beings literature in early period was not systematic enough.Ghost Research written by Han Yu in the middle period of Tang Dynasty,made clear the difference between“ghosts”and“monsters”from their bodies,and expressed divergence which is different from other literati in that period on the concept of supernatural beings.He preferred to describe the abstract“ghosts”,while other literati in that period were more interested in writing specific and figurative“monsters”.Later,the concept of supernatural beings of rationalistic Confucians in the Song Dynasty was complied with Han's idea,which reflected the common views of the Tang and Song dynasties in the transformation of Tang and Song Dynasties,from which we can see the important position of Han Yu in the transformation of the Tang and Song dynasties.On the other hand,the rationalistic Confucians in the Song Dynasty's concept on supernatural beings were becoming more abstract and purer.In contrast,Han Yu's concept of supernatural beings was not that profound.Hence,after the rise of Neo-Confucianism,the people of the Song Dynasty neglected the idea of Han Yu altogether,showing the difference between Tang and Song in the transformation.